


Priorities in a Universe-Ending Crisis

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Reunion Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 12:11:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1940589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>A snort of laughter escapes him, and they stand like that, giggling at each other like loonies.</i> AU Post-Turn Left reunion fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priorities in a Universe-Ending Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to mrv3000 for the beta and for the title.

  
He barely pays attention as he runs down the street, mindless to Donna’s harsh panting as she struggles to keep up with him. He senses another star blink out and disappear overhead. It's started, no doubt about that. The darkness steadily creeps down over Cardiff, turning houses and buildings into indistinct shapes and shadows.

The fate of the Earth, the universe in peril—he’ll worry about that later. He’s almost at the warehouse, and his fingers stretch out, reaching for the handle.

It’s locked.

He has to stop, has to take the extra seconds to dig out the sonic screwdriver. “Come on, _come on_ ,” he whispers. Donna bends over, wheezing like she might vomit. He almost feels bad, but the lock clicks open and he bursts inside. Donna tumbles in behind him, cursing him under her breath.

Heads turn in their direction—UNIT, Torchwood, Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane—and machines putter and beep in protest at the sudden interruption. His eyes sweep across the warehouse and he stands frozen, breathing heavily, his hearts thundering in his ears.

Where is she? _Where is she?_

He almost panics (What if she’s gone? What if her world pulled her back? No, no, no—he can’t even _think_ that), but Donna’s hand grabs his elbow and squeezes. He follows her gaze and finds his eyes locked with Rose’s.

He stops breathing. Literally. His vision darkens and his knees wobble before he pulls himself together. He sets off towards her, dodging UNIT soldiers, machines, weapons—his eyes never leaving her face.

There’s a UNIT soldier in front of her, voice growing more irritable, “Ma’am? Ma’am?”

Rose doesn’t glance at him. “Go… go check the symmetry on the flux diameter and report back. Or something."

“Yes, ma’am.”

The Doctor stumbles to avoid hitting the soldier, nearly falling flat on his face. He pulls himself up, his breathing still sounding unnaturally harsh. He almost moves forward again, but something stops him. Now that he's found her, he doesn't quite know what to do. They stare at each other in wide-eyed silence. The hair on the back of his neck prickles uncomfortably, and he shoves his hands in his pockets, mind going utterly blank.

She looks older. She’s thinner than she used to be and there are dark circles under her eyes. Her gaze is alert, sharp, but sad, tinged with loneliness he never wanted her to feel. His eyes land and freeze on the gun she’s wearing. It’s draped comfortably across her chest, held snuggling in place with a thick strap. She barely even seems to notice it. His gaze moves past the gun, back to her face.

He draws in a breath, and says the only thing that pops into his mind, “What’s a flux diameter?”

Rose stares at him, looking baffled, but then she shrugs and says, “Dunno. Made it up. It sounded good, though.”

His lips twitch, and then he grins at her. Rose bites her lip and then grins back. A snort of laughter escapes him, and they stand like that, giggling at each other like loonies. The rest of the warehouse falls into an irrelevant blur of noise and colours around them.

The Doctor begins to relax. Gun or not, it’s still her. Still Rose.

Giggle-fit under control, he says, “Hi.”

“Hello,” Rose parrots back. Her gaze shifts over his face, down his neck and shoulders, and then back up again. “You’re hurt,” she says suddenly.

Of all the things he expected her to say, that hadn’t been one of them. “I’m sorry?”

Rose ignores his confusion. “Sit,” she says, maneuvering him to the nearest chair. The gun bangs against his side. The Doctor stiffens, but doesn’t comment—she’s _touching_ him, hands real and warm on his shoulders—and then frowns at her when she comes at him with gauze and disinfectant.

“Rose, this really isn’t necessary.” She dots at his chin with a cotton ball. “And besides, I have a very advanced biological—”

“This stuff will work on anything. Mum said so,” Rose interrupts. She starts in on his cheek.

The Doctor shifts uncomfortably. “Honestly, it was only a scratch—”

“You _died_ ,” she snaps furiously, now dabbing somewhere near his forehead. He’s fairly certain she’s stopped paying attention to what she’s doing. “I came back only to find you were gone. D’you have any idea how much I…?” She stops and breathes. “Donna’s lucky. She doesn’t have to remember. But I do, Doctor. I do.”

“Rose—” he keeps his tone gentle and grabs her wrist. She stills and stares at him, the vulnerability in her eyes making her seem years younger. She drops the cotton ball on the floor and he enfolds her hand in his own. “That wasn’t real, that universe.”

She looks at him. “It was. I was there.”

He nods and squeezes her hand. She squeezes back.

“Rose,” he tries again, “would you, um… would you mind taking that off?” he points to the gun with his free hand.

“Oh,” Rose breathes in realization. She immediately moves to unhook the gun, dropping his hand in the process.

“Better?” she says.

“Yeah,” he says thickly. They stare at each other and Rose folds her arms across her chest, shifting from one foot to the other. All he can think about is how badly he wants to hug her. He spent ten minutes trying to reach her, they’ve been talking for three, and _he still hasn’t hugged her._

“How long—?” he starts.

“A while,” Rose answers. “A few years after we got separated. It was my plan all along, I think… back on Satellite 5. I didn’t remember what happened, but it was like… like some part of me knew.”

He nods like it makes sense, and tries to ignore the part inside of him that recoils instinctively from that much power. This girl—this woman—is strong enough to manipulate time, to bring people back from the dead, and to cross whole universes. But it’s Rose. She’s the most familiar thing in the universe.

“I’ve been watching you,” she continues, voice thick with unshed tears. “I saw it all—Donna, Martha, the Judoon, the Sontarans… the Master.”

He stares at her, stricken. “All this time?” he whispers. “You were here all this time? And I never…”

Rose shakes her head, eyes wide, and tears beginning to drip down her cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She wipes her nose with her sleeve. “It’s just… it’s been so hard.”

His mouth drops open, but no sound comes out. He pushes himself to his feet and gathers Rose in his arms. She stiffens and then relaxes, arms winding around his neck and tightening. He mumbles some soothing noises in her ear, and then buries his face in her neck, telling himself to breathe, breathe, breathe. Rose clings to him, leaking tears onto his jacket and collar.

There’s a loud blast from overhead and the warehouse shakes, cascading dust onto their heads. Rose doesn’t let go, but her tears taper off and her grip loosens.

Slowly, the rest of the warehouse comes back into focus. He can feel hundreds of eyes boring into them. He stays holding her a bit longer, unable to shake the feeling that if he lets go, he’ll lose her again.

“Um… ma’am?” There’s a loud throat clearing and the Doctor raises his head to find the UNIT soldier from earlier. He nudges Rose and she pulls away, straightening her jacket before wiping at her smudged makeup.

“Yeah? What is it?”

The soldier hesitates, lingering on Rose’s reddened eyes. She stares back at him coolly.

“It’s the flux diameter, ma’am. The readings are off the charts.” He swallows. “They’re coming.”

Rose nods and turns back to the Doctor. She gives him a shaky smile. “Our reunion _would_ happen in the middle of the end of the universe.”

“I’ll get us out of this, Rose,” he finds himself saying. “And then… then we’ll have all of time and space again. You and me.”

There’s a shout from the opposite side of the warehouse. “Oi!”

“You, me, and Donna,” he amends quickly. “How’s that sound?”

Rose’s eyes momentarily darken with sadness, but then she smiles at him. She brushes away the last of her tears. “Yeah?”

“Whatever else is going on, you’re back, and that’s… that’s brilliant,” he says. “Absolutely brilliant."

Another blast echoes overhead. The warehouse rocks dangerously, and the Torchwood and UNIT teams rush to protect their equipment.

Rose makes an effort to bite back her smile and look serious, but she can’t quite manage it. “You ready for this?” she holds out her hand and wriggles her fingers.

“Oh, yes,” he says, hand fitting neatly into hers.


End file.
